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High Road Economic Advancement Policies in the States

By Bill Schweke on 10/12/2007 @ 11:54 AM

Tags: Ideas in Development, Economic Development, Business Incentives

Helping the poor, dislocated workers, new immigrants, single parent families, minority youth and others to advance to greater self-sufficiency and ultimately to middle class socioeconomic status is affected by scores of polices. On the federal side, monetary and fiscal policies, trade agreements, and the use of affirmative action strategies are just a few examples.

This article has just one simple purpose: provide the reader with a fairly comprehensive map of policies at the state level that could increase a citizen’s economic well-being. The list below includes economic development programs, along with much, much more.

I know that I have probably left out some important ones. Plus, there are new ones being designed as I write. If you have any strongly-felt nominations to my list, let me know.

Using public powers

• Prudently redirect public pension investments
• Retrofit public buildings
• Use procurement to foster product and market development
• Use a Capital Budget to guide investments in new public works and in their maintenance.
• Implement smart growth measures using tax, regulatory, spending, etc. powers
• Enact congestion charges
• Conduct a “budgeting for results” review of a state Department of Commerce

Creating an appropriate tax and regulatory environment

• Tax modernization and base broadening
• Encourage pollution prevention approaches instead of one-size-fits-all compliance regulation
• Support green industry development, greater use of renewable energy, and increased energy efficiency in residential and commercial buildings, and so forth
• Encourage “The Nature Conservancy style” of environmentally compatible development

Creating jobs and wider prosperity

• Invest in people (K-12 education reform and investment is one illustration).
• Spur innovation, technology transfer and commercialization
• Encourage entrepreneurship
• Deliver manufacturing modernization services
• Pursue cluster-based development strategies
• Address uneven development through targeted development efforts
• Reform business attraction incentives

Insuring access for disadvantaged to decent employment

• Work with job placement/training programs
• Provide transitional community jobs
• Experiment with training enterprises
• Promote equal opportunity through the courts

Raising incomes

• Raise, enforce and index the state minimum wage
• Institute livable wage provisions for all state contractors who wish to continue bidding on state contracts
• Enact state Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) and other progressive tax reforms (small saver’s credit, day care tax credit, etc.) Undertake Project Labor Agreements

Building and protecting assets

• Create IDAs (individual development accounts)
• Pilot children accounts
• Raise asset limits on transfer payments
• Make available voluntary personal retirement accounts
• Undertake predatory lending reforms
• Prevent credit card abuse/exploitation
• Provide financial literacy education
• Support employee stock ownership plans (ESOPs)

Assisting the unemployed

• Modernize unemployment insurance (UI)
• Assist displaced workers
• Meet basic needs (health care for unemployed, etc.)

Protecting the rights of employed

• Combat “right to work“
• Create collective bargaining rights for public employees
• Improve workers compensation services and benefits without raising cost for employers
• Improve workplace health and safety
• Establish new regulations, etc for nonstandard employees
• Explore new forms of organization for the employed, such as free lancers unions, guilds, workplace safety committees and high performance workplaces